(#24) / Ordinary People / by Judith Guest / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

Ordinary People / by Judith Guest

ISBN-13: 978-0140065176 / Penguin (Non-Classics)

p. 272 / $10.20 (Amazon)

1976

Body of Content

Summary: The Jarretts are the everyday family – typical Americans through-and-through.  But circumstances change for the family, as their older son (Buck) dies in a water accident, while the younger son (Conrad) escapes the drowning fate of his brother.  Filled with survivor’s guilt – as he, the younger, less strong of the two brothers – Conrad struggles to deal with the tragic event.  Ultimately, Conrad attempts to take his own life, cutting his wrists in the family’s bathroom.  His parents – Calvin and Beth – seek out professional counseling services for their son – turning to psychiatrist Dr. Tyrone Berger.  Other friendships develop – Jeannine Pratt as a love interest and Joe Lazenby as a sport buddy on Conrad’s swim team.  But the road to recovery is a long one – as Ordinary People describes how a typical family deals with the unexpected and tragic events that enter their lives.

Critique: The book is a psychological book – well versed from the author’s educational major in college.  One of the reoccurring themes in the book is shame – how Conrad must deal with it and learn to overcome it.  Having attempted to kill himself in the family’s bathroom, that room holds a connotation of shame – as Conrad’s parents discovered him there – bleeding to death.  Conrad bears the physical scars of his suicide attempt – often wearing long shirts to hide the marks.  Dealing with self-esteem and self-identity issues, Conrad doubts his ability to find love, though one character (Jeannine) helps him in this regard.  Still, their relationship is often talked about within sessions with Dr. Berger.   

The novel deals with grief, death, and loss – but given that the main character must strive to find a way to live with the events – with both his brother’s death and his ill-fated attempt – the novel deals with shame.  Through the constant physical reminders and embarrassment, Conrad must overcome the shame that overshadows a person when they fail at suicide – and more questions than answers enter the equation.      

Teaser: “After a family loses their son in a water accident, they must face the prospect of losing their other son who survived.”

Information about the Author: Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Guest studied English and psychology at the University of Michigan.  Shortly thereafter, she married, started teaching a first-grade elementary class, and had her first of three sons.  Guest faced rejection for publishers earlier in her ventures into novel writing – with one publisher rejecting the manuscript for Ordinary People saying, “While the book has some satiric bite, overall the level of writing does not sustain interest and we will have to decline it” (Guest, 2005).

But one publisher did pick up the novel – and Viking Press followed by printing her second novel Second Heaven.  With various publishers, Guest further her writing credits – with the works Killing Time in St. Cloud, Errands, and The Tarnished Eye (Guest, 2005).  

Supplemental Material

Genre: Drama

Curriculum Ties: Psychology – suicide, recovery, self-esteem, survivor’s guilt  

Booktalking Ideas: 1) If your sibling died in the same accident that you survived, how would you react? 2) How do attempted suicides affect surrounding family members?

Reading Level: The main character is a teen – and about survivor’s guilt – and thus, it represents a problem novel dealing with teen suicide.  Teenagers throughout high school (15-19) represent the intended audience.  This book would prove difficult, though, within a lower educational setting – if attempted for educational use in middle school, given the premise.  

Challenge Issues and Defense: The book deals with a teenager’s life – after an attempted suicide effort.  The book, thus, contains a heavy premise.  The main character in the book also talks about his sex life and habits in the novel within discussions with his therapist. The film adaption won the best picture award from the Academy – and overall, the work is known as a novel of merit.  Such supports help defense of the book. 

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: The book is very simple – (i.e not overly dramatized like some problem novels) – but the novel is well-written.  The author portrays a complicated issue – as the reader wants the best for the character, as his story develops.

Last Thoughts

References:

Guest, J. (2005). Bio [Webpage]. Retrieved from http://www.judithguest.com/bio.htm

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Sara Groves / Album – “Invisible Empires”  

(#18) / The Chosen / by Chaim Potok / (Book)

Opening

Bibliographic Information:

The Chosen / by Chaim Potok

ISBN-13: 978-0449911549 / Ballantine Books

p. 284 / $10.00 (Amazon)

1969

Body of Content

Summary: Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders meet on the baseball diamond, when Danny hits a line drive that shatters Reuven’s glasses – requiring a rush to the ER.  As the story unfolds, these two unlikely rivals in sports become closer friends.  But their Jewish cultures stand in the way, as Reuven is an Orthodox Jew and Danny is a Hasidic Jew.  The story unfolds, additionally, as a story of two fathers – Mr. David Malter and Rabbi Reb Saunders – and how they interact with their sons.  The constant themes of the story relate these themes – of religion, of family life, of modernity – all set against the backdrop of American life during the Second World War.  With both fathers have plans and desires for their respective son’s life, the novel sees the two teenagers grow as individuals – to a place that may or may not reflect the wishes of their fathers.   

Critique: The novel is intended for a teenage audience.  And it tells a very moving story – both from the perspective of two faiths trying to understand each other – and of two fathers trying to understand their sons.  Some of the scenes in the later portions of the book talk about theology and religion in a way that requires a fair amount of knowledge on the reader’s part – to completely understand the issues and dilemmas that face the characters.

There are a few scenes when Reuven interacts with his professors regarding various ancient texts. While the flow of the scene is apparent to the reader, the vocabulary and methodology employed by the author – though respective of realistic dialogue in such a situation – leaves the reader with only partial knowledge of the dialogue transactions.

Reuven struggles with his professor – at one point – answering the professor’s question by elaborating on textual criticism, redaction methodology, source comparison, etc. – which would make sense only if a person holds an education from a linguistic or theological background.  Reuven’s use of the “historical methodology” within his religion courses points out how the main protagonist struggles with trying to understand his role as a Jew living in modern times.  While this theme is reemphasized throughout the novel, without significant theological knowledge, the particulars to and the depth of Reuven’s struggles may escape the reader’s eye.       

Teaser: Set in the tension of 1940s Brooklyn, two unlikely rivals dare to become friends.

Information about the Author: Potok’s other works include a sequel to The Chosen – a book titled The Promise (1969).  Other prominent works include My Name is Asher Lev (1972), Davita’s Harp (1985), and The Tree of Here (1993).  Potok was himself born in Brooklyn, the setting of The Chosen.  His parents moved to America from Poland and raised their family in an Orthodox Jewish manner (Wikipedia, 2011).

From an early age, Potok desired to become a writer – submitting entries into magazines while still a teenager.  He eventually elected instead to pursue an English major at Yeshiva University.  After graduating with an esteemed summa cum laude for his bachelor’s degree, Potok continued his studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America – eventually becoming an army chaplain in South Korea after the military conflict there.  It was not until his late thirties that Potok sat down to write his first manuscript – now back in America as a professor.  The author died in the summer of 2002 – at the end of 73 – having also married – and raised three children (Wikipedia, 2011).   

Supplemental Material

Genre: Historical Fiction

Curriculum Ties: Sociology – religion, culture, Judaism, urbanization, wartime

Booktalking Ideas: 1) Have you ever met someone from a different culture or religion who you knew little about? 2) Why did the author of the book choose the Second World War as the backdrop to his story?

Reading Level: Best aimed at the lower levels of high school – ages (14-16)

Challenge Issues and Defense: The novel tackles faith issues and intra-religion topics within Judaism. I do not know of any challenges issued at the book – though some may contest Zionism as a past controversial issue (though not so much within recent decades).

Personal Reasons for Inclusion: I am a bit nostalgic – as I first read this story as a sophomore in high school – and later, it was a book that I assigned (as a teacher) to my ninth-grade students.   

Last Thoughts

References:

Wikipedia. (2011). Chaim Potok [Webpage]. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Potok

Listening to (Music):

Artist – Michelle Tumes / Album – “Michelle Tumes (2006)”